This turtle is pretty much the size of a small boat and we are freaking out
When we think of turtles, we tend to think of a little reptile we can hold in our hands or keep as a pet. Apparently, turtles can be MUCH bigger than that. New Zealander Pippa Partington and her husband Craig were boating earlier this week when they saw such a massive turtle paddling gently alongside their boat.
The duo saw the leatherback sea turtle just off the coast of Mangawhai and were amazed by what they saw. Since it’s 2016 and we live in a world of “pics or it didn’t happen,” the couple took a video of the relaxing turtle, which has since gone viral.
Check out the video below:
https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fpippa.partington%2Fvideos%2F10210117909037814%2F&width=500&show_text=true&height=1013&appId
This turtle looks like a legitimate representation of Crush from Finding Nemo, right?
She posted the video to a local Mangawhai Facebook page with an amazing caption, “OK here it is…me having kittens over a turtle! Apologies for the quality but was totally amazed!”
The leatherback sea turtle is so beautiful and, according to National Geographic, it’s super rare to spot one because the reptile is at risk of being extinct due to human interference. For a reptile that can trace its roots back 100 million years, it’s disappointing to know how much damage humans are doing to their livelihood.
While these sightings continue to become more rare, it’s important to remember to take care of our environment so we can continue to see animals and reptiles thrive on land and in the sea!
